SPANISH FORK – The manhunt for a suspect who fired at police before shooting and injuring a man is arrested after a chase in southern Utah County.
Investigators say the Marshals Office received information that Justin Llewelyn was in a park in Provo. Detectives from Unified Police Authority went to the area and confirmed the suspect in question was Llewelyn. However, he took off before a plan could be made to arrest him safely. Unified Police Lieutenant Brian Lohrke says, “As that plan was developing, he then got into a blue Dodge truck and went mobile. A traffic stop was attempted on State Street in Provo, but Llewelyn fled from our officers at that point.”
The chase went from Provo to Springville to where it ended near 600 North and Main Street in Spanish Fork. “The vehicles were northbound in the pursuit. A PIT was attempted and the [truck] spun. As the truck spun, the back end hit a tow truck that was stationary,” Lohrke says. Officers took Llewelyn into custody without any further violence.
The truck was registered as stolen out of West Valley City.
Llewelyn was taken to the hospital in good condition. The Utah County Sheriff’s deputy who performed the PIT was treated for cuts and bruises from the airbag.
Utah County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Erik Knutzen says the deputy who stopped Llewelyn cut across traffic to perform the PIT, and put himself at considerable risk to do so. “We knew [Llewelyn’s] background. We knew what he had already done. He had already engaged with law enforcement officers with some gunfire. We knew the potential was there. We wanted to end this pursuit as quickly as possible to keep other people from being at risk.” Knutzen says.
Llewelyn will be handed over to the Salt Lake City Police Department, which is handling the investigation of the officer-involved shooting over the weekend. Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera says, “Any time we can work as a partnership to take somebody into custody that’s violent like this, I’m happy with.”
